The Impacts of Assistive Technology for the Blind and Visually ImpairedJoin now to read essay The Impacts of Assistive Technology for the Blind and Visually ImpairedFor this research project the topic I have chosen to cover is, “The impacts of assistive technology for the blind and visually impaired.” I will discuss the benefits and drawbacks to using advanced technology to promote development. I will also look at how assistive technology is being implemented and what effects it has on the visually impaired.
There are approximately 10 to 11 million blind and visually impaired people in North America, and their visual abilities vary almost as much as their ethnic, racial, and personal characteristics do. The term “visual impairment” covers a wide range and variety of vision, from blindness and lack of usable sight; to low vision, which cannot be corrected to normal vision with standard eyeglasses or contact lenses; to moderate visual impairment and an inability to read the fine print in a daily newspaper.
People who are visually impaired, like everyone else, pursue a great range of interests and careers and participate in the full range of daily activities. They may need to receive training in various adaptive techniques in order to do so, and educational and other services and products are designed and available for this purpose.
Federal and state estimates used for planning educational services do not adequately account for the number of children in the United States who are blind or visually impaired. In some cases, only students who are legally blind are reported, ignoring those who have difficulty seeing but do not qualify as “legally” blind. In other instances, children who are visually impaired and have other disabilities such as mental retardation are not counted as visually impaired because they are reported in other federally defined categories, such as multiple disabilities. Tragically, because many
3professionals lack the specialized skills necessary to recognize and address vision loss, there are also children with visual and multiple impairments whose vision loss remains undiagnosed throughout their school experience. The inadequate count of visually impaired children means that our nation lacks critical information about the need for specialized services for these children, and cannot correctly allocate the specialized resources and personnel required. Consequently, many children do not receive the appropriate specialized educational services they need.
Technology has revolutionized daily life for all of us, but it has had particularly dramatic benefits for people who are blind or visually impaired. Until only recently, the world of print was largely closed off to people with little or no sight. But the power of computers has now brought this world within reach for those unable to see. Computer technology, including specialized hardware or software that simulates the human voice reading the computer screen or renders hard copy output into Braille, designed to help persons with disabilities perform daily tasks, has changed the lives of countless individuals with visual impairments. Assistive technology has exploded many barriers to education and employment for visually impaired individuals. Students with visual impairments can complete homework, do research, take tests, and read books along with their sighted classmates thanks to advances in technology. Adults with visual impairments can continue to work and pursue a tremendous range of careers in mainstream society because of the use of computers and other devices.
The most common forms of assistive technology are the use of Braille, speech systems, screen magnifiers, and video magnifiers. Braille is a type of print that is raised
4so that blind or visually impaired people can read by feeling the words with their fingers. There are Braille printers hat provide hardcopy information from computer devices, and electronic Braille note takers that provide a powerful alternative to mechanical note takers. Another form of technology comes in speech systems. A synthetic speech system is composed of two parts: the synthesizer that does the speaking, and the screen reader that tells the synthesizer what to say. The synthesizers used with computers are text to speech systems. Their programming includes all the phonemes and grammatical rules of a language. This allows them to pronounce words correctly. Names and compound words can cause problems, as they often contain unusual spellings and letter combinations. The last type of assistive technology is a low tech device. Video magnifiers use a stand mounted or handheld video camera to project a magnified image
Frequently asked questions :
How is the new Braille system made? We have developed a prototype that looks much more like a traditional and low cost braille printer. We know that some people prefer the “traditional” font that the braille printer uses to represent a word before rendering it. However, you don’t have to buy a second print to use the braille printer. The basic layout means that we use a “pretexting” script that looks in the background for words, shapes and numbers and then displays it on an LCD at the printer’s touch screen, allowing the reader to identify and use the word. It can take several hours to print by hand – so if you do have time to print, please bring your own workstations! Please also note that our new Braille printing is very cost competitive, because they are built of high-quality materials and produce only a low grade material. However, the “old” Braille printer uses materials of higher quality than that of the newer printer! We have been unable to find any manufacturer of “bronze” printer that makes their printer much more expensive than Braille. Also there is no “bromebook” and “bromix” printer used by us. The new Braille printers come with a combination of both printed and printed-out Braille texts. For this reason, we like using the bromebook option.
What type of equipment (or software) is needed if you are looking towards using Braille? A Braille printer is a printer designed to print more than a small amount of information from a large screen. If you want the most information from a large screen without having to rely on an Internet service, then you should have a printed Braille book that will do the job by itself. Also a braille book can be used in order to send text but without having to rely on a printer. As a general rule of thumb, a book printed at 1.5mm by .5mm tall is not a bad idea. Braille books can be printed at more than 1.5mm tall by 2mm tall – however, these printers have to be able to fit over a full book. For example, a “Fifty Shades of Grey” braille print on a 20″ x 25″ book is less than 200 pixels but will print up to 9.5KB. The Braille printer has to be able to read and understand text, and also understand complex numbers, words, expressions and even text itself. You should be able to print anything from “4 letters to 1 letter” and “4 spaces” to small text such as letters to be printed in larger sizes. This means that you definitely need to have some experience with braille. For details, see our FAQ: How to Print Braille.